CELTS confidentiality statement

CELTS is a college-wide resource for the Augustana teaching community. Its mission is to help create and support transformational learning experiences across the College through programming and dialogue, as well as offer educators feedback, mentorship, and self-reflection opportunities. To accomplish this mission, CELTS is committed to providing a trustworthy and confidential environment for all those it serves.

These confidentiality policies have been developed by the CELTS Director and Academic Affairs, in consultation with the CELTS Advisory Group, and are grounded in the Ethical Guidelines for Educational Developers established by the POD Network in Higher Education.

All CELTS consultations and evaluations of teaching are formative in nature, designed to promote self-reflection, experimentation, and growth. Conversations, observations, and materials created by CELTS staff are confidential and remain solely between the instructor and the CELTS staff.

Any documentation produced as part of this process is provided only to the faculty member for their own professional development. CELTS does not share individual consultation notes, teaching observations, or feedback with department chairs, administrators, or other college personnel.

Participation in any CELTS consultation or service is voluntary and initiated by the individual instructor.

To maintain confidentiality and to protect the privacy of individual educators, the following policies will be carefully and faithfully followed:

• CELTS engages with an instructor only at the instructor’s request or with their explicit consent. We are happy to reach out to educators to offer services. However, work with a particular instructor begins only if and when the instructor agrees to receive that support.
• All feedback, observations, and materials generated through CELTS are shared only with the faculty member involved.
• Faculty who consult with CELTS are free to share (fully or in part) any reports or reflections that they create with colleagues, department chairs, or promotion/tenure committees — at their own discretion. CELTS does not require, endorse, or mediate such sharing, and will not independently share materials beyond the faculty member.
• CELTS feedback and consultation materials are not intended for use in personnel decisions, such as tenure, promotion, or reappointment.
• CELTS may report aggregate participation data (e.g., number of consultations or event attendees) but never information identifiable to individual faculty.

Exceptions to Confidentiality

• Legal or policy-mandated reporting: In rare instances (e.g. disclosures triggering Title IX or mandated reporting obligations), CELTS must comply with college or federal law.
• Threats to safety or security: If a faculty discloses a credible threat of harm (self-harm or to others), CELTS reserves the right to disclose to appropriate points of contact. 

Modes of Communication & Storage

• Consultation dialogue (in person, virtual, or by phone) is treated as confidential and not recorded unless with explicit informed consent.
• Written feedback or summary documents (e.g. observation reports, pedagogical recommendations) are shared only with the faculty member via Augustana email or direct hand‐delivery.
• Metadata (such as surveys, evaluations, general themes) may stay in CELTS internal logs but will be anonymized before aggregation.

The principal role of CELTS is to advocate for educator success and student learning. Student learning is the focal point of faculty work at Augustana. CELTS is dedicated to helping educators accomplish their work as effectively as possible.